Local punk scene rocker to release cassette Friday, celebrate release Saturday at the Garland

With the release of a new cassette featuring stripped down and reimagined tracks, Hayes Noble continues to live by the “do it yourself” mentality.

Although originally from Illinois, since Noble started calling Spokane home just a few short years ago, he has made quite an impact as a leader in the local punk rock scene. With two full-length albums, national tours and show production around the city, there simply is not much he has not done – besides releasing a classic cassette tape.

“I’ve always been into tapes, just like physical releases in general,” Noble said. “It does a good job at capturing what I was trying to do production wise.”

Noble recorded the entire 10-track project by himself in his basement as he actively sought a raw, very honest lo-fi sound that gives the listener more room to breathe. In evoking a melancholic sense of nostalgia, Noble proves that it is not always the high-quality productions that resonate the strongest.

Although much of Noble’s sound is fast paced and electric guitar heavy, that is not the case here as he gives an entirely new life to eight tracks from his two full-length records.

“I was really trying to do a more singer-songwriter thing and really get to the essence of the songs,” Noble said. “I just kind of took it as an opportunity to really try some different things out and re-explore those songs I’ve already done.”

Two new tracks will also be featured on the release, including “Seven” released back in August. Although Noble believes he will eventually release full band versions of these songs, they continue to show this new side of Noble while also providing a look into the direction he is headed.

“I think I’m going to try to lean into doing more stuff like this in addition to the full band stuff,” Noble said. “It was a really good way for me to experiment with some different recording techniques, do something a little bit different musically and try to get outside the box a little bit.”

The cassette, titled “Never Blue,” will be released on Friday. The name comes from a lyric in one of the reimagined songs, “Nothing Else” from his 2024 album “As It Was, As We Were.” Besides leaning into the emotional exploration the project emphasizes, Noble also cites having a solid excuse to release a blue-colored cassette as reasoning for the name choice.

Noble will be celebrating the release with a concert at the Garland Theater on Saturday. The event will also feature five other local bands and a showing of John Carpenter’s 1982 classic “The Thing” afterward. Concertgoers are invited to wear their best Halloween costume, as well.

Besides celebrating the release of “Never Blue,” the event is simultaneously a celebration of the local scene and community within Spokane. For Noble and 2-2-1 Press, the local production and distribution company he is heavily involved in, these types of events are much more about creating a gathering space and giving reason to come together.

“They mean a lot … every show is really an opportunity to showcase what we’re trying to do and what we’ve been trying to build here in town,” Noble said. “Every local show, to us, we see as an opportunity to excel the scene.”